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Election 2012–Get Mad, Then Get Over It (Nov 2012)

Well, the President won a second term despite historically poor economic performance and the highest prolonged unemployment in decades. This should be a come-to-Jesus moment for the Republican party. If the Republicans continue to focus on social issues over economic ones, we as a party are destined to become as irrelevant as the Whigs.

It’s as simple as this—-the demographics of America are changing to include a younger and more colorful electorate—-religion and pro-life views may play well in America’s hinterland, but they are no longer the views of the mainstream. Roe v Wade was decided almost 40 years ago. Jesus did not ride a dinosaur. Running to the right to secure the primary, then walking back to the center doesn’t work anymore. It might be time to follow NJ Governor Christie’s advice from the GOP convention—-leaders don’t follow polls, they change polls.

Bottom line, does railing against marriage between Adam and Steve really take precedence over $16T debt, prolonged joblessness, a broken immigration system, a failing education system, and a convoluted tax structure? To me, it’s the equivalent of fiddling while Rome burns, and we do ourselves and the nation a disservice by pandering to the extremists to secure votes that we’ll arguably have already.

Ben Franklin was famous for espousing himself as an “extreme moderate,” like I do. I think we need to snap back at the fringes of the party and let them know that they are just that………the fringe, NOT the center. I understand that a lot of Republicans didn’t and don’t focus first on social issues, but the Democrats successfully painted us all with that brush (thanks Murdock and Akin), and it paid off for them.

Thankfully, the House of Representatives remains red, and with it, the power of the purse. But if we don’t change course now, and continue to put local tactics before national strategy, I fear we’ll be in for a tidal wave of bureaucratic red tape, bloated government (you want a secretary of business? really Mr. President?), asinine spending and subsequent insolvency in the years to come.

Disclaimer

The views expressed herein are solely those of The Reasonable Republican and should not be attributed to any agency, department, or office in which he may have previously been (or may currently be) employed.